I just wanted to show you my latest little sewing project completed- my plastic and paper bag holders. I made a big one for the kitchen, hanging here from a wine bottle holder (not being used- due to the pregnancy NO wine is allowed to be consumed in the house- so I don't feel left out :-D). (The occasional beer consumed by my extremely hard-working husband is however allowed). I know these bag holders aren't rocket science- I am a very amateurish sewer and don't challenge myself too much in that regard!!
The chicken fabric strip is so cute. I also made a matching one for small bags for the cat litter, hanging here near the cat-litter tray in the laundry. (Unfortunately we don't have a compost or a garden at this home- we rent and its not allowed:-( otherwise the cat litter could go straight into the compost/garden, as its biodegradable litter).
We have a tiny laundry- so I have been forced to be quite space-clever, and you will see the hanging baskets above the cat litter where I keep my cleaning products. I'm quite pleased with this, especially for when Peanut is at the age where you have to keep cleaning things out of reach. Ha- you can also see the bubble wrap I've taped to the corner of the hot water system's box- it was a nasty corner and I would hit my head on it nearly every time I bent to do the cat litter! (Am not missing this job since I've been pregnant- delegated to Shane so Peanut doesn't catch nasties).
You can also see my white board Bill List here on the laundry door, my saving grace.
By the way, as we are pretty good now at taking our canvas bags to the supermarket and to the food market, we rarely get plastic bags these days. I often find I have none to line the bin. Does anyone have a solution for this?? I've considered just throwing the rubbish straight into the outside wheelie bin with no plastic involved - but I'm not sure our council would appreciate this?? We have on occasion bought biodegradable plastic bags in the past, but they are expensive and they are still plastic- I don't want to buy them again. Shane brings bags home from work now and then, and I wash them in hot water and soap in case they had meat in them once (eww). P.s. we reuse any kind of plastic bag we get- those little triangle ones herbs come in, bread bags, the bags the free newspapers come in, we use all these for the cat litter. I hate plastic but I feel better if at least I use the bag 2 or 3 times.
Its nearly Friday, which means its nearly the weekend- Yay! "See" you again soon.
South Australia is 'bag free' now so I buy bin liners (biodegradable) but I used to have a supply of supermarket bags once. Your bag holder is very nice and well done for challenging yourself! Onwards and upwards!
ReplyDeleteHi Joolz, thats fantastic about SA- I'm afraid Qld is a bit behind there. You have some awesome looking recipes on your blog- I'll be back :-) xx
ReplyDeleteI can't see why the council would care, because the big truck tips it straight into the huge pits. But it would probably involve more bin cleaning on your part (both the big one and the little one inside and that's one job that never seems easy or that I never seem to have time for!
ReplyDeleteWe don't use many plastic bags either, and I reuse bags the bread comes in to do the kitty litter, saves me having to buy them.
The other thing that gets me with plastic bags is that if its "biodegradable" its not always truly so - rather than truly breaking down back into the environment, it just breaks down into tiny pieces of plastic, which then cause the problem of plastic ingestion into smaller creatures.
Plastic bags should be made of corn or other natural fibres to be truly biodegradable, which granted many are, but not enough!
And I too came from Rhonda's blog, and am enjoying your blog immensely!
what a fantastic project i may try making one this weekend
ReplyDeleteGood job -- I love your chook fabric too. I get about three bags a year these days so have very little to store.
ReplyDeleteBTW, "Peanut Hetzel" has a nice ring about it. ;)
Hi Annet- you're right there, cant see why council would care. I might just do a bag-free bin week and see how it goes. I dont mind washing the kitchen bin out, I do that anyway. And I could hose the large outside wheelie out- maybe give it a brush with a broom at the same time? I totally agree with you about the biodegrad. bags- living by the coast here I see them around the water and think of the sea life drowning from swallowing them (bio or non-bio- would stil do damage). I'm always picking rubbish up and the council here is pretty good- they hire people to pick up rubbish around the esplanade but it still gets to the water.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments :)
Hi house built on stone, its very easy- sew strips together (or you can just use one big rectangle of fabric), sew it together length ways so it makes a long tube shape, then hem the top and bottom and thread elastic through both hems- voila! let me know how yours goes.
ReplyDeleteSarndra, this is such a cute idea...thank you for sharing it with us.
ReplyDelete~~HUGS~~
That bag holder is very pretty.
ReplyDeleteHi all,
ReplyDeleteThis came from Lauren-
Hi ! I like your blog :) and I love organising stuff, maybe a bit OCD myself !
I come via Rhonda's blog too ! I have read that you can line your bin with newspaper ! I guess it will still require a clean, but its better than nothing ! :)
best of luck with your little one, your life will never be the same :)
Lauren
xxx
Thanks so much Lauren- thats a great idea about the newspaper!! I am ging to do that :-)
Has anyone else had trouble leaving a comment?? SOrry if you have- I will look into this! (I will also put an email up in my profile you can contact me via that if u'd like) Xx Sarndra
I was going to suggest newspaper, but more for the kitty litter. I'm a dog person, and I truly have no idea how often kitty litter has to be changed, and if it gets wets etc. However I did once read about a woman who was folding her newspapers into an open box shape and putting her vege scraps in there as her compost container, and she'd take it to the outdoor compost bin/heap every day. I know how to fold an open box with paper, but I guess there will be lots of tutorials for such things online anyway. Might be a good way to make use of the free newspapers ;-P We don't buy newspapers, but we use our free one, and last year's Phone Book to light our wood fire over winter LOL! I reckon it wouldn't be hard to use 4-5 sheets to make an open box to fill with kitty litter once per week (?) and put it in the top of your wheelie bin just before it gets collected...
ReplyDeleteI LOVE that fabric too, BTW, and you've done a great job with the bag holder :-D I think I noticed that gorgeous black/white/green bird(?) IKEA fabric on your sofa too ;-)
ReplyDeleteHi Deborah,
ReplyDeleteThats a great idea about the kitty litter. I'm going to try that too. This is what I love about Blog World- I get all my questions answered! :-) Yes you are right about the cushions, I bought these handmade at markets by a lady and she told me its Ikea fabric :-) I love their fabrics! Thanks for stopping by. Hope u have a nice weekend Xx
We are somewhat green in our house too. I only take the reusable bags to the shops and use all the plastic that somehow comes in - 1kg bags of peas, bread bags, cereal bags all contain the babies' dirty nappies, the pampers bags get reused too and I HATE plastic being wasted.
ReplyDeleteThing is.. here in South Africa they charge you for grocery bags but not for bags at clothing shops. So you still end up with quite a bit.
Hi Marcia!
ReplyDeleteYes we here in Aus also use far too many plastic bags, a lot of supermarkets aren't charging yet. We are very behind in a lot of ways, basically anything to do with being environment-conscious, sadly. I envy countries like Sweden with their recycling and use of alternative energy.
Thanks for stopping by!! :-)
I'm in the UK so things are probably different over here... but we have lots of local small businesses that will come and clean out your outside wheelie bin for a very small fee (I think they just use a hose etc, but saves getting inside it to struggle yourself). Do you have anything like that near you?
ReplyDeleteBizarrely, pretty much everyone here uses plastic liners in the kitchen bins, but people still get their wheelie bins washed out too! Can't say I've ever bothered (although maybe I'm the strange one!)
Hi Jenni! Wow what a great idea- I may start a small business doing that myself! Hehe :-) If I didnt have Peanut on the way. I think its a great idea, but yes its funny that people pay that money if they are stil using bags! Maybe non one has suggested to them they dont need to use bags lol! :-D
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely day, you will be coming into your summer now hey? I bet its lovely and warm by now :-) My sister lives in Leeds and will be here for a visit soon, and hopefully stil here when our baby is born, fingers crossed!!
Xxo Sarndra
The NT will be plastic free in 3 months. They are phasing them out now.
ReplyDeleteI've been wondering what I will do as I use the small amount of plastic I get for the bin.
However recycling had increased to plastics numbers 1 to 7 since 1 week ago.
We will have cash for cans and bottles coming up next year.
I compost.
I'm wanting to cut down on meat.
So I'm hoping my waste will be greatly reduced by all of this, meaning less use for plastic. Making newspaper parcels of waste is a great idea.
I'm in the USA but we dump the kitty litter straight into the big huge wheelie bin..... As for trash bags--well, people manage for years and years wrapping the trash in newspaper or whatever. It's harder when you don't compost or have a garbage disposal for "wet" trash though--you have to keep scrubbing the trash can which is a pain.
ReplyDelete